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Vastatosaurus Rex (Ravager-Lizard King) is a fictional relative of Tyrannosaurus Rex, and a monstrous predator of the lowlands of the fictional Skull Island, featured in the 2005 film King Kong. They are the dinosaurs that attack Ann Darrow; King Kong kills 3 of them.
History
Since the evolution of dinosaurs never stopped on Skull Island, the Tyrannosaurus Rex kept evolving into a bigger, scalier, more vicious beast called Vastatosaurus Rex. As shown in The World of Kong, the Tyrannosaurus' skull evolved over time to be thicker and bulkier, giving them extra protection. They also became larger by at least 10 feet, and developed an extra finger on their arms which acts as a thumb. It is possible that the extra finger allowed the V. Rex to pin down food. Ever since T-Rexes evolved into V-Rexes, they have been in conflict with Megaprimatus Kong who are a giant species of gorillas. V-Rexes have always threatened the mighty but more peaceful primates who are herbivorous. While Kong is able to defeat three Vastatosaurs, others of his species appear to not to have been so fortunate. Kong is the last of his species, leaving us to assume his relatives fell victim to the Vastatosaurs and/or other island predators. Unfortunately, he is captured by humans, and eventually dies in the United States, thus ending Kong's lineage, according to The World of Kong.
Appearance
V-Rexes were long, tall carnivorous theropod dinosaurs, about 40-50 feet long and 20-25 feet tall. They had black/blue scales, but a pale yellow underbelly. They had small arms, only about 3 feet long, and were heavily armoured. While T-Rexes had 2 claws on their arms, V-Rexes had 3, which helped them pin dead prey to their body when dragging it to a place to eat. The feet of the V-Rex were very large in order to walk effectively on the broken and uneven terrain of Skull Island. The V-Rex's hips were also much narrower than a T-Rex making it more agile and "snake-like" to navigate through dense foliage. Their skulls were shorter but a lot stronger and more heavily reinforced than a T-Rexes, and were made for ramming into rival V-Rex's and prey, crushing bone with a bite force of around 5.5 tons. These carnivores were at the top of the food chain.
Life cycle
The female V-rexes lay their eggs in large mounds of decomposing leaf litter. The natural decomposition heats the eggs, allowing the mother to hunt as she needs. She will periodically return to urinate on it, warming it more.
The eggs hatch in a few months, and the hatchlings are already capable of hunting on their own. They form groups of similar-aged animals for protection, but they do not hunt with the sophistication of Venatosaurs. They start out hunting insects, but gradually start hunting bigger and bigger prey.
One trick the V-Rexes have developed is to scare Venatosaurs off their kills. The warning hoots of the Venatosaurs are lost, and the conflict is inevitable. Another trick was to bully a Venatosaur guard off the nest, and eat the chicks within. Often, this would happen, but before the V-Rexes could claim their prize, they were often attacked by the pack, summoned by the guard's cry for help. Death was likely, and attrition was fierce. Only the strongest and smartest made it to puberty.
On the onset of puberty, the dinosaurs leave to go to the lowlands of the island. There they steal carrion from the older V-rexes. While the adults are mating in the jungles, young might try to take territory from the older animals. Or, they might follow the older pairs, watching them hunt and stealing a kill. According to 'The World of Kong: A Natural History of Skull Island', V-Rexes could break into sprints of up to 25 mph (40 km/h) over short distances.
Juvenile V-Rexes
These versions of V-Rexes are only seen in the recently released King Kong video game. They seem to be near adulthood but can be killed by humans. They also aren't very big in size, leaving one to believe they are around their teenage years although in the game it was clear that they weren't hunting with their parents which means they were becoming more independent.
Adult life
When they became adults, they would hunt animals like Ligocristus (a hadrosaur, probably descended from Parasaurolophus) and young Ferrucutus (a ceratopsian probably descended from Triceratops). The sheer size and power of the V-Rexes meant that, apart from each other, they only had one natural enemy - the giant apes of Kong's species, Megaprimatus Kong, who used their massive, powerful arms and superior agility - their greatest advantages over the V-Rexes - to subdue their foes. In fact, the V-Rex's most effective weapon, its large, powerful jaws, could be a big weakness when battling one of the giant apes if the Rex was pinned to the ground. Despite this, battles between the two species could be incredibly violent and well-matched, with both taking the opportunity to target the unprotected young of the other whenever they could, in order to eliminate future threats.
Their territory ranged over a well-defined area, to avoid competition, but there were times when they fought. This was not usually physical, however, but usually consisted of roaring and intimidation. When this didn't work, they would fight physically. Older males had many scars from such battles.
Males usually had large, open territories. Females had territories on the fringe between grasslands and jungle, where they had spots to lay their eggs. During the mating season, males left their territory and sought out a mate.
The V-rexes used ambush techniques, as they were too large to run down all but the slowest prey. The greatest challenge was not being seen, but their black scales helped hide them in the shadows. These scales also helped warm the V-rex up, providing extra energy and an advantage over the cold, slow herbivores.
Trivia
- Whilst The World of Kong describes the V-Rex as a direct descendant of Tyrannosaurus, the position of Skull Island in the world would implicate a much closer bloodline to the Asian therapod Tarbosaurus.
References
Weta Workshop. The World of Kong: A Natural History of Skull Island. New York: Pocket Books, 2005. Pages 62-67, 137-139.
"Vastatosaurus rex"